摘要：

This publication describes what becomes possible when nations invest in children’s well-being and protect their rights. Millions of children are now less likely to be left mentally impaired because of iodine deficiency. Millions more are enjoying better health thanks to improved access to clean water. More children are enrolled in school now than was the case 10 years ago. Breastfeeding rates are up in many countries and birth registration records have vastly improved. Polio is on the verge of eradication. Immunization has worked miracles in countless villages and remote locations in developing countries turning despair into hope and uncertainty into promise. The Progress of Nations also captures the slow but steady progress girls and women are making as they overcome inequality and discrimination and regain their right to live to their full potential. Child labour and sexual exploitation are being tackled with great vigour. But this publication also recounts the great distances the world must still travel. Goals remain unmet and rights unrealized because of poverty gender discrimination debt wars inadequate commitment or unequal social development. The Progress of Nations records the devastating speed with which HIV/AIDS has in less than a generation become the greatest catastrophe facing the continent of Africa and is now spreading in Asia and parts of Central Europe and Latin America. So malevolent is the threat that the economic prospects and social stability of entire regions are at risk. It is fitting therefore that HIV/AIDS is the central topic of this issue of The Progress of Nations. The figures on infection rates among youth are horrifying. Efforts to educate and inform people especially youth about HIV/AIDS must be pursued with far greater energy. (excerpt)

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